I am excited as movie makers continue to craft movies based on the Biblical narrative. One story I really hope they make a movie about is the story of Esther. It literally has everything Hollywood could want in a movie. It has drama, romance, sex, violence, assassins, politics, genocide and a whole lot more.
The following passage stood out to me as I was reading. Esther 4:13-17
Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, "Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, "Go gather all the Jews to be found in Susa and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the King, though it is against the law and if I perish, I perish. Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.
Essentially, God will do what God wants to do regardless of human participation. Mordecai understands this and realizes that no matter how Esther acts or doesn't at, God will keep His promise to His people and will provide deliverance. Mordecai also understands that God likes to use people to accomplish His will and so He encourages Esther to be apart of what God is going to do.
Now Esther is, as we might expect her to be, confused, uncertain and probably scared. Yet her response is beautiful. She doesn't complain, "oh sucks to me" as we often do. She doesn't "wait on God to give her a sign" Another classic Christian cop out. She embraces the reality of the situation and steps forward in faith. Faith in God not faith for a specific result. I think a big misunderstanding we have about faith is that we think we're supposed to have faith for something to happen. When the truth is we are supposed to have faith in Him who can make all things come about. Rather than me having faith that "God will heal this person." I need to have faith in "God who is the healer" Esther doesn't know what will happen to her. She knows that God will keep His promises but if she perishes, she perishes.
We have much in common with Esther and we can learn much from her example. Like Esther we don't know the future or all the ramifications of our actions. Like Esther we don't have a perfect understanding of how God's will applies specifically to the day to day interaction of our lives. Like Esther we have different "good" forces telling us to act different ways. For Esther, she had Mordecai on one hand giving her advice and on the other side she had the law which threatened her with death. From Esther we can learn to not hide from what's happening around us. From Esther we can learn that death, perishing, shouldn't hinder us from doing what we know is right. From Esther we can learn that God will keep His promises. From Esther we can learn that we don't need to have all the answers before we should just jump in and do our best.
Life is a daunting task and the world is a big place. If Esther can embrace her reality and step forward in faith not being sure of the result. Than I know in my comfortable 21st century American life I can embrace the life that God has given me and be His ambassador wherever I happen to be.
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| This antique is of me in 2009 when I played Mordecai in an epic church drama. |
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